The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has dismantled an industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory hidden in a forest in Oyo State and arrested five suspects, including a Mexican national allegedly recruited to provide technical expertise for the operation.
The agency said the facility, located in Tapa Village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area, was being operated by a Nigerian Mexican drug cartel and contained large quantities of chemicals and equipment used in the production of methamphetamine.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, retired Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, announced the breakthrough during a briefing at the agency's headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to Marwa, NDLEA operatives raided the facility on June 17 following intelligence reports and arrested five key suspects at the scene.
The suspects include 56-year-old Mexican national Jose Villa Ochoa, described by the agency as a methamphetamine production expert, and four Nigerians identified as Maxwell Uche Nevoh, 30; Olatunji Yusuf, 37; Bankole Akeem Owolabi, 45; and Ganiu Monsiu, 43.
“This was not a rudimentary setup. It was a sophisticated, highly organized transnational syndicate,” Marwa said through the agency's Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
He said the arrest of a foreign drug specialist highlighted both the international nature of the operation and the agency's intelligence capabilities.
“The arrest of a foreign cartel specialist on Nigerian soil underscores the transnational nature of this threat. It also demonstrates our agency's ability to track, intercept and neutralize criminal networks,” he said.
A forensic team deployed to the site a day after the raid reportedly discovered what NDLEA described as a factory-scale drug production facility.
Among the items recovered were drums containing phenylacetic acid and phenyl-2-propanone, key precursor chemicals used in methamphetamine production, as well as large quantities of caustic soda, sulphuric acid, tartaric acid and other chemical compounds.
The agency also recovered industrial processing equipment, including a reactor pot, distillation units, mixers, condensers and drying machines.
Marwa said field tests conducted by forensic experts confirmed the presence of methamphetamine in samples collected from the site.
“This is another multi-billion-naira cache of illicit substances and production equipment capable of flooding communities with millions of doses of synthetic drugs,” he said.
The latest discovery comes less than a month after NDLEA dismantled another large methamphetamine laboratory hidden in a forest in Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State.
Marwa said the two discoveries suggest an attempt by drug trafficking syndicates to establish the Southwest as a hub for synthetic drug production.
“The proximity of this discovery to the Ogun laboratory uncovered weeks ago reveals a desperate attempt by drug barons to establish a synthetic drug manufacturing hub in the Southwest,” he said.
He warned criminal networks against using Nigeria as a base for illicit drug operations.
“Let the message go out clearly to all drug cartels, domestic and international, that Nigeria is not and will never be a safe haven for your illicit trade,” Marwa said.
“We will find you in the cities, track you into the forests and dismantle your infrastructure of death.”
The NDLEA chairman commended officers involved in the operation, particularly personnel of the Oyo State Command, for what he described as their professionalism and dedication.
He also thanked members of the public for providing information that helped investigators locate the clandestine facility.
The suspects are expected to face prosecution as investigations continue.
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